Shrouded Radiance
by WinterAssassin
Summary: [Sequel to Hidden Beauty] With Kuroi back on the team and the inter-high over, the members of the Kaijou High school's basketball team train and prepare for the upcoming Winter Cup, but what other problems are awaiting them and Kuroi this time around? [KasaHiro, eventual KiRei!]
1. Basket One: Life Goes On

Shrouded Radiance

* * *

Basket One: Life Goes On

* * *

A clash of pain and a brief sensation of falling before crashing into the ground and sliding on the cold, hard floor made Kuroi grunt. The black haired, purple eyed teen groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position, taking a moment to move her arm in a circular motion. The pain diminished slowly as she turned to look at the fallen boy next to her, frowning.

"Kise! That was clearly _my_ ball!" Kuroi snapped, rubbing her shoulder on which she had fallen on. She stood up and crossed her arms, staring down at the blond before her.

Kise pouted up at her and shook his head, "Nah-uh. It was being passed to _me_ , Yasuhirocchi! You just decided to get in _my_ way." He added in, childishly sticking his tongue out. Kuroi huffed and offered her hand, pulling the blond up onto his feet.

"Not true." She muttered, wiping the drops of sweat that rolled down the side of her face. "Next time, don't jump when I jump, okay? Then we won't have a mid-air collision."

"How about _you_ don't jump when _I_ jump?" Kise scoffed, turning around to hide his growing smirk. Kuroi snorted, "Please–" She started, only to get cut off by a quick swipe to the head.

"Ouch." The raven haired girl pouted, rubbing her head as she watched the very person that whacked her, smack Kise on the head, as well. "Kasamatsu, that hurt."

"That's Kasamatsu- _senpai_ , while we're at school, brat." Kasamatsu said, reaching forward to ruffle Kuroi's short dark locks. He turned and grabbed the ball which had managed to bounce away from the idiot duo's collision and bounce off the wall – only to roll back to where they were standing, "Let's continue on with practice, everyone! We need to train hard for the Winter Cup!"

"Ehh…" Kuroi pouts as everyone else shouts a solid _"Yes!"_ to their captain, Kasamatsu Yukio. "Ne, Kasamatsu- _senpai_ , do you think we have a good chance of winning the Winter Cup?" Kuroi asked, following Kasamatsu's change of topic.

"Of course," Kasamatsu replied, smiling down at Kuroi. Kuroi stared silently for a moment before returning the smile. "The great thing about Kaijou is everyone looks out for each other and we all support each other. You should know this by now, Kuroi."

"Senpai, it's _Yasuhiro_ while we're at school. However, I'll also accept _brat._ " The purple eyed girl added cheekily, not missing the way Kasamatsu's eye twitched when she spoke. "Anyway! I'm gonna switch with Moriyama-senpai because I need to go use the bathroom." Kuroi spoke, tagging out for Moriyama, who just so happened to be passing by.

Kasamatsu nodded, telling everyone to pick up their pace as he threw the ball to Nakamura. Kuroi walked over to the bench and grabbed her water bottle, taking a long sip of the ice cold water. She put it back down, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and spinning around, making her way to the locker room as it had the closest bathroom to the gym.

The raven haired girl stopped in front of the door, staring blankly up at the clear-as-day male sign that was screwed to the door. She shrugged and entered, making her way past various bags scattered around the locker room and for the row of toilets located near the back. She walked past the man-toilets and into the one that had actual doors on it, thankful for the privacy provided.

After Kuroi did her business, she walked out of the stall and washed her hands, drying them off in the air-dryer. She tilted her head, staring at her reflection in the mirror. ' _My hair grew a bit…_ ' She thought, wiping her hands on her shirt before reaching up to brush a few strands out of her eyes. Kuroi sighed as she inspected herself, frowning. ' _Should I trim it? Or just let it grow out? I mean, I have to stop pretending to be a guy eventually._ ' With another sigh, the purple eyed girl turned and made her way out of the locker room, slowly heading back for the bench. She sat down, figuring she might as well stay out since there were only a few minutes remaining of the final quarter.

The current mock-game that was going on seemed to have gotten more intense since she had left, with Kasamatsu's team in the lead. Kasamatsu's team included himself, obviously – Kise, Nakamura, Kobori, and herself (although she had subbed out with Moriyama). The other team had Hayakawa, as well as Genji, Akio, Keisuke, and Hotaka. Kasamatsu's team had a lead of 12 points against the others, and was steadily rising. Kuroi smiled as she watched them play, Kasamatsu yelling at them to move faster and play harder, pushing them just enough but not too hard. Kasamatsu really is a great captain; Kuroi understood why their coach had made Kasamatsu take on such a big responsibility. It was exactly that reason – he was responsible, he knew when something was wrong, he knew everyone's limits and how far they could stretch their abilities, he made some pretty fearful but great training regimens that fit with everyone's specific needs. It made Kuroi so very happy, grateful and proud that she could call someone like that her friend, _senpai,_ captain, and boyfriend.

Before she knew it, the horn blared, signaling the end of the game. Everyone was smiling, talking and sweating, making Kuroi feel just a tad bit envious. She pouted as she watched Kasamatsu ruffle Kise's hair, the blond practically beaming as bright as the sun itself from being praised. They came to where she was sitting, Kise falling with a loud thud onto the bench, nearly knocking it over at the same time. "Yasuhirocchi, did you see my cool dunk?"

"Super cool." Kuroi commented, smirking.

"I know!" Kise grinned, picking up his bottle to chug a decent amount of cold water. He pulled it away and gasped for air, wiping the stray drops of water with his shirt. He then proceeded to use his shirt to wipe up all the droplets of sweat. "Senpai, do you wanna do karaoke with me, Yasuhirocchi, and the others after school?" The golden eyed first year asked.

Kuroi cocked her eyebrow, "Since when did I say I'd go with you?"

"Ehh, but it's team bonding!" Kise whined, tossing his water bottle up into the air. "Plus, you owe me from last time." He threw in, smiling a bit _too_ innocently.

"Fine," Kuroi said, fighting the urge to flick Kise's head. "But senpai has to come to!" She quickly added as she laughed at the face Kasamatsu made. She watched Kise throw his bottle up in the air again, only for it to be caught by Kasamatsu on its decent.

"Alright, just this once," Kasamatsu agreed, "But afterwards I need to go home and study. You two should be doing your homework, anyways."

"Yes, senpai." Kise and Kuroi both replied. Kasamatsu then told everyone to get ready to go run some laps, since that was what they were going to end practice with. Everyone shouted their response and began to make their way out into the track field. Kise hopped up from the bench and dragged Kuroi along with him, nearly making the two trip over themselves.

"Watch it, Kise. Jeez." Kuroi snorted, staring down at her shoes.

Kise simply laughed, "Sorry, Yasuhirocchi!"

* * *

As soon as practice ended, Kuroi and the others all headed to the usual karaoke bar they frequented. Their large group split into two and went into the two booths that were right next to each other. Kuroi chose to stay with Kasamatsu, as did Kise, Kobori and Moriyama. Chitose appeared to have a hard time deciding which group to join but in the end he followed after their captain, much like a stray puppy.

Keisuke stuck his tongue out at Akio before trudging in after Chitose. Hideki followed after Keisuke, ignoring how Akio flipped off his spiky, silver haired friend with a smirk. The remaining third, second and first years flooded into the other room, talking amongst themselves.

Back in the first room, Kuroi watched Kise practically jump onto the sofa only to collapse the closest to the karaoke machine. She turned her gaze to the microphone stand and arched her eyebrow, randomly remembering the one time Kise and her managed to convince Kasamatsu to sing _one_ song. It was a glorious battle they won that day; getting to hear Kasamatsu's adorably shy singing voice. The black haired girl smiled fondly at the memory of her boyfriend, not exactly paying attention as she went to take a seat next to Kise. She tripped over her own foot and yelped as she smacked into the blond, who in turn cried out in surprise as he was taken to the ground.

"Yasuhirocchi! That hurt!" Kise grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his head.

Kuroi groaned and pushed herself up. "Sorry, but it wasn't like I planned it." She shot back, cheeks heated from the embarrassment of her own clumsiness.

"It's okay~!" Kise hummed out, standing up and charging for the small stage which the microphone stand stood upon. "I take this opportunity to go first!"

"Of course you do." Kuroi said, sitting down. She glanced to her side as Kasamatsu sat next to her, looking at something on his cellphone. The purple eyed female looked back at Kise as he scrolled through a large list of popular songs. He chose an English song, by a band called Fall Out Boy. The model began to sing the lyrics, his English surprisingly good, for being what everyone referred to him as: an idiot.

As soon as Kise finished his song, he happily sat back down, sighing happily. "I wish it could be like this forever." He commented quietly, more to himself. Kuroi, however, heard him and she stared at him for a moment before looking away. "Yeah…" She agreed, starting to feel sad as she realized as soon as they were done with the Winter Cup, the third years would graduate and go on with their life.

As if sensing her mood spiraling, Kasamatsu put his cellphone down and ruffled her hair, making Kuroi blink in surprise. "Senpai?" She asked, tilting her head at him questioningly. "Did you want to sing?" Kuroi asked, sounding hopeful.

Kasamatsu snorted, pushing her head lightly, "You wish." He stated, making Kuroi pout. "Why don't you sing?"

"Ehh…" Kuroi looked up at the stage which she only now just realized was being occupied by Moriyama. "Maybe later…" She mumbled softly, glancing back down at her lap. Kuroi could feel Kasamatsu's gaze boring into her and she slunk down in his seat, resisting the urge to laugh awkwardly or to tell him that nothing was wrong – especially when he already knew something was wrong.

"Are you going to tell me or do I have to give you a new training regimen?"

"D- Don't be hasty, senpai." Kuroi looked at him warily, not wanting to receive yet another training regimen from hell. "I guess I'll tell you… Only because I want to and not because I'm avoiding doing more work."

"Uh-huh…" Kasamatsu nodded, sounding completely convinced, with that small smile on his face. Kuroi returned the smile automatically, happy to see her boyfriend's smile, but it soon dropped as she thought back to why she was sad in the first place. "Well… I'm just sad that you're all going to be leaving us this year… I mean, I guess I always knew it from the beginning, but now that your third year is almost over, I'm only just realizing it now." Kuroi voiced her thoughts, eyes glued to the table.

Kasamatsu hummed, shifting in his seat. "I'm sad, too." He started, leaning into the soft cushioning of the sofa. "At the same time I'm also happy."

Kuroi looked up at Kasamatsu and nodded slowly, "I get that. You get to go to university and do adult things."

"What adult things would those be?"

"I dunno… Watch late night television and drink coffee?" Kuroi giggled, dodging the elbow that came her way. "Coffee is too bitter by itself, though." She added, frowning at the memory of when one of Kise's sisters made her drink it.

"Don't worry; I'll also have a ton of studying to do, as well as practicing and not to mention having to keep in touch with the idiot over there." Kuroi laughed at that, secretly wondering how Kasamatsu always managed to make her happy when she was sad. "A- And I'll miss you… of course."

"… Senpai, you're so cute!" Kuroi giggled, hugging Kasamatsu's arm. The raven haired male jolted from the sudden attack of affection but soon relaxed and leaned into her hug. "Just don't cheat on me." She added in a teasing tone, despite knowing that Kasamatsu was the type who would not do such a thing.

As expected, Kasamatsu scoffed. "I would never." He stated, giving Kuroi a knuckle sandwich, making her whine. He shook his head and instead ruffled her hair once again, making Kuroi swat at his hand. "Who would want to cheat on you anyway?" He asked. "If anyone ever did, you'd be sad at first and then you'd punch them in the face."

"Pssh, I wouldn't _punch_ anyone, senpai." Kuroi said, feigning innocence. "How could you say such a thing, to your girlfriend, no less?"

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes, "So it wasn't you who punched that one girl that said horrible things to Kise three weeks ago?"

"… Hey, I know you wanted to punch her, too."

"… _No_."

"Uhm, _yeah._ "

"Not one bit." Kasamatsu shook his head.

"You just didn't do it because you're a guy."

Kasamatsu retorted, "You were dressed as a guy and you still hit her."

"She deserved it!" Kuroi huffed in defense, crossing her arms over her chest, "Even if I did get detention for a week." The purple eyed teenager added slowly.

"Are you two done with your weird flirt-fight?"

Kasamatsu looked at his friend oddly, "Flirt- _what?_ " He questioned, not liking where Moriyama was taking this.

"Flirt-fight." Moriyama grinned. "Anyway! If you're done, we all voted to go and get pizza!"

" _Pizza_!" Kise shouted, putting on a thick, obviously fake Italian accent.

"Wow." Kuroi snorted, pushing Kise away from her. "You're horrible." She chuckled as the blond also laughed, unabashed by being shoved playfully, or by his horrible accent.

"It's Kise's treat, by the way."

"Haha, yeah!" Kise paused, falling silent, " _Eh?_ "

* * *

Kuroi greeted her parents by the time she returned home. Her father smiled at her while her mother looked at her, both worried and irritated at the same time. "Where were you? I thought you said you'd be back after school."

"After practice," Kuroi corrected, only to wince from the look her mother gave her. "We all ended up hanging out afterwards. Kise even bought everyone pizza, much to his… displeasure." She chuckled.

Kayate pursed her lips and nodded, "Just be sure to tell us next time, okay, sweetie?"

"Sure, mom." Kuroi gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, knowing she would want one. "I'll be in my room!" The black haired girl announced, jogging up the stairs. Once she was in her room, Kuroi sat on her bed, feeling exhausted. She yawned and lay there, staring up at the ceiling as she thought of how her mom was acting, now that she was pregnant. Kayate's mood swings were quite bad; at least that was what Kuroi thought. But apparently they were not as bad as when Kayate was pregnant with Kuroi, according to her father. But the over-protectiveness could turn into anger in a split second, or sadness and disappointment could turn into happiness and pride. It was as if her mother was a whirlwind of sensitive emotions that was ready to spin out of control at any given moment. Dealing with that was hard but worth it, in the end because of a new member the three got to welcome to the family.

The basketball playing girl blew a piece of her hair out of her eyes and smiled softly, wondering if her new sibling was going to be a boy or a girl. Either way, she was surely going to teach him/her basketball when they were old enough. ' _Maybe they will be a prodigy._ ' Kuroi thought as she laughed to herself. The girl stifled a yawn and decided to begin her homework, knowing that her mother would be asking about it later on.

Kuroi sat at her desk, pushing her laptop out of the way and dumped the contents of her bag in front of her. She sifted through the notebooks and textbooks, stopping when she pulled out a double-sided worksheet for math. Kuroi glared at the page but wanted to get it over with, so she started working on it.

Halfway through, a soft knock on the door pulled her from her confused state and Kuroi looked at her door. "Yeah?" She called, clearing her throat a moment later as she managed to hold back another yawn.

"Are you hungry?" Kayate asked, holding a plate. "I made some cookies." She smiled softly, walking into Kuroi's room and putting the plate on her desk. Kuroi blinked and stared at the chocolate chip cookies. "Thanks." She stated, taking one and chomping it.

"You're welcome, honey. Just be sure to get plenty of rest, alright? I heard you and your father talking the other day that you have a practice match coming up, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Kuroi replied lamely, nearly forgetting about the practice match Kaijou was going to have against another school that was close by. Kuroi could not remember the name of the school, for the life of her, but she supposed it was because they did not matter in her eyes. "Don't worry, we'll win for sure." Kuroi spoke, grinning.

Her mother nodded, gazing around her room before sighing softly, "Kuroi, you do know that you can't… _do this…_ forever, right?"

Kuroi halted, staring down at the cookie in her hand, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you can't be… you can't pretend to be a _boy_ for the rest of high school. I know you're only doing it because you love the sport and your team so much, but… You need to grow up and when you enter your second year, it's going to be as a girl."

"… I know." Kuroi mumbled, putting the cookie back on the plate. She has thought about it, and her mother was right (although Kuroi thought she was grown up enough). The basketball player knew that she should fix everything by her second year, but that was still months away. "For now, I'm just going to concentrate on playing with my friends, especially since all my senpai are going to be graduating soon." Kuroi stated simply, adding in, "O- Of course I'll also work on my studies." She laughed awkwardly at the firm glare her mother gave her.

Kayate nodded, pleased, and turned around and marched back to the door. "Kuroi, I'm glad we had this discussion and I'm glad you understand. Good night, sweetie."

"'Night, mom." The black haired girl held her smile as she watched her mother leave her room. Once the door closed, Kuroi groaned and leaned back in her swivel chair, spinning around slowly. She stared at the ceiling and sighed. Kuroi mumbled, "And so life goes on…"

* * *

 _KasaHiro is love. KasaHiro is life._

Sooo, I also just wanted to say that if anyone is reading this, and they haven't read the first story _**"Hidden Beauty"**_ , it may not make much sense, but you can continue to read if you still like it :D It'll make me happy~ But I'll be much more happy if you check out Hidden Beauty, as Shrouded Radiance is the sequel to it.

One last announcement! If you can't get enough Kuroi (I know I can't, seriously), then I'd love it if you could check out **PumpkinDreamer** 's Kuroko no Basket story! It's called "Akademīenjeru", and it has Kuroi, as well as other OC's in it!

Thanks for reading!

~WinterAssassin~


	2. Basket Two: Worrying News

Shrouded Radiance

* * *

Basket Two: Worrying News

* * *

The sound of the alarm clock going off stirred her consciousness, making Kuroi groan softly as she pushed the pillow off of her head. She sat up and pushed the button on the alarm, causing it to fall silent.

Kuroi looked around tiredly as she yawned loudly, falling back onto her soft bed. The raven head proceeded to stretch her limbs and then smack her cheeks, willing herself to wake up.

She got up and did her morning routine. After breakfast, Kuroi quickly departed, jogging lightly towards the train station. When her weekday commute ended, she found herself in the gym.

There were some second and third years she recognized, as well as some first years, but she frowned when she saw no sign of Kasamatsu. "Ah, Kobori-senpai!" Kuroi ran up to Kobori, holding her duffel bag close to her so it would not bounce around so much. "Do you know where Kasamatsu is? Is he changing?" She asked.

Kobori glanced down at Kuroi and chuckled slightly, "Actually, Kasamatsu went to go talk to the coach. He said something about a practice match with one of the school's nearby."

"Eh... Senpai is really eager to train really hard."

Kobori nodded, "I guess he feels like he owes it to you younger brats."

Kuroi blinked, tilting her head an inch as she thought over Kobori's words. "Ah, thanks, Kobori-senpai." Kuroi turned and walked into the girls changing room. She placed her bag on one of the benches and turned around. Kuroi nearly had a heart attack when she saw Kise's bright expression as he dove towards her.

"Yasuhirocchi!" He sang. They both would have fell to the ground if not for Kuroi having anticipated the Miracles movements. She tensed and staggered for a moment, then proceeded to push Kise away.

" _Idiot_! Get out of here!" She growled, swinging her leg in hopes of kicking the blonde.

"Waahh!" Kise yelped, just barely managing to dodge her attack. "I'm sorry, Yasuhirocchi! I just came in here because my girlfriend said she lost her bracelet and she wanted me to look for it!"

"Gi- Girlfriend?" Kuroi asked, arching her eyebrow. Kise nodded, and Kuroi pinched the bridge of her nose. "You mean the one that wears way too much makeup? Or..."

"What do you mean _or?_ " Kise pouted. "What kind of guy do you think I am, Yasuhirocchi?"

"The idiot kind."

"So cruel."

Kuroi sighed and pushed Kise towards the door, "Just go get changed, already. I'll let you know if I see any bracelet or whatever..."

"Okay!" Kise bounded out the girls changing room and Kuroi gave the door a glare before she finally changed into her gym-wear. By the time she got out, she saw Kasamatsu walking back into the gym, with some papers in his hands.

"Morning, Kasamatsu-senpai!" She called happily, skipping over to her boyfriend. "What are those?"

Kasamatsu looked at her and smiled. Albeit, the smile was not of the friendly nature, in fact, it looked like he had some dark plan scheming in the back of his head. Kuroi faltered and suddenly regretted asking. She made to escape, but Kasamatsu stopped her by placing his hand on her head. "Morning, _kouhai_."

"E- Eh..."

"It's nice of you to ask because I was just gonna ask you to hand these out to everyone."

"O- Okay." Kuroi nodded, accepting the papers from Kasamatsu. She looked down at the first one, seeing Moriyama's name scribbled at the top-left corner. The purple eyed girl scanned the contents of the page and she pouted. "Another training regimen."

"Got a problem with that?" Kasamatsu demanded with narrowed eyes.

" _Erk_ \- No, not at all, captain!" Kuroi shook her head fiercely. Before Kasamatsu could respond to her, Kuroi did as she was told and walked up to Moriyama as he was first on the pile of papers. She handed his regimen to him and watched as his joyous expression turned into one of sadness before she moved onto the next person, Kobori.

As the first year handed out all of the regimens, she finally got to her own and she whistled. ' _Kasamatsu really does know how to hold back, does he?_ ' She smiled; still pleased despite all the hard work she needed to do to complete the regimen in a week. Kuroi put her regimen on the floor, next to her water bottle. She glanced at the next person's regimen and realized it was Kise's.

"You're on a whole other level, Kise." Kuroi spoke as she patted her best friend on the shoulder, just after handing him the piece of paper that had his imminent death written all over it.

Once Kuroi finished passing out all the regimens, Kasamatsu called them all together. "As some of you may have noticed, I have created each regimen specific to yourself. I kept in mind your strengths and weaknesses, what you need to improve on and such! If you manage to complete this training regimen in one week, then you may have next Monday off! If not, then you must stay behind to finish it! That is all!"

Just as Kasamatsu finished talking, most of the students all scrambled off to begin their regimen, in fear of not completing it on time. Kuroi and Kise walked up to Kasamatsu, as did Moriyama and Kobori "That's pretty bold, captain." Moriyama grinned.

"Yeah, offering a day off to those who complete it on time." Kobori chuckled. "Shouldn't you first years be starting on your regimen?" The tall third year asked as he turned his warm, brown eyes on Kise and Kuroi.

The idiot duo shared a look before they both smiled, "But Kobori-senpai, you know we'll finish our regimens before the due date!" Kise spoke, flashing the third years a grin as well as a peace sign while Kuroi simply smiled and nodded quickly.

Kobori laughed at their spunk whereas Moriyama sighed wistfully, saying that he wished he were still a first year. Kasamatsu on the other hand glared at the two of them. The captain of Kaijou booted Kise and Kuroi, yelling, "Go start your regimen or else I'll double it!"

The two first years yelped and ran away from their captain.

* * *

With school and practice over, the idiot duo began to make their way to the train station. Kise turned to Kuroi and eyed her before smiling, "Yasuhirocchi!" He called, making Kuroi look up at him.

"Hmn?" She blinked, feeling more tired than usual because of their new regimen. "What is it, Kise?"

"I was just wondering if you were busy next Monday."

"Next Monday?" Kuroi looked up in thought, idly staring at the fluffy-looking clouds. " _Uhh_ \- Wait, did you _already_ make plans?" At Kise's sheepish expression, Kuroi snorted and shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure I can complete this before then, so no, I hopefully don't have anything planned. Other than school." She added, wishing they could also have the school day off, as well, instead of just practice.

Kise bobbed his head before stopping in his tracks. Kuroi faltered and nearly tripped over her own feet as she came to a sudden halt as well, "What?" She asked, looking at the blond weirdly.

"I was thinking of asking everyone to hang out! I mean, we could all go karaoke!" The model spoke earnestly, his golden eyes glittering in the setting sun.

"You're obsessed with karaoke." Kuroi snickered. She turned and started walking, Kise catching up in an instant. "I thought that Kasamatsu was going to stay and supervise the stragglers?"

Kise looked at Kuroi and chuckled, "No, I meant you, me, and…"

" _And_?" Kuroi pressed. She briefly wondered who else Kise could be talking about.

"And my teammates from middle school!" Kise rushed out, staring at the ground. "You know, from Teiko?"

"I know, you dummy." Kuroi murmured, narrowing her eyes. She kept her eyes forward but mulled over the idea. "I think…" She stopped her train of thought. "What do I think?" She suddenly asked before shaking her head.

"Yasuhirocchi?" Kise tilted his head.

Kuroi glanced at him as they climbed up the steps that lead to the overhead sky train station. "Let me get this straight: you're going to call up all those guys and ask them to hang out with you after school on Monday?"

Kise nodded.

Kuroi continued, "And you want _me_ to come with you?"

Kise nodded.

The purple eyed girl laughed quietly to herself before exploding, "ARE YOU _SERIOUS_!?"

"Waah!" Kise stumbled back from the force of her voice, waving his arms as he tried to calm Kuroi down. "Ca- Calm down, Yasuhirocchi! You're drawing attention to us!" He rushed out, shaking her by her shoulders lightly.

Kuroi swatted his hands away, "I don't wanna hear that from you!" She pursed her lips, deep in thought. "Why do you want me to go? Won't I get in the way? I'd feel weird being the odd-man out."

"Aren't you technically the odd- _girl_ ou- _ow_!" Kise winced from the jab to his side. "You get what I mean!" He said defensively. "Besides, it's not like you'd be an outsider because Kurokocchi would probably bring Kagamicchi with him, anyway!"

"Yeah, but I'm not like Kagamicc- _uh_ , Kagami."

Kise pouted at her. "Yasuhirocchi, you're just procrastinating so you don't have to answer!"

Kuroi glared at Kise and crossed her arms as they waited for the train. "I'm not."

"Are."

"Not."

"Are."

"Okay! Maybe I am. I just… I don't know." She groaned, leaning against the blond. "They don't know about me and maybe I'm afraid of them finding out my secret."

"Yasuhirocchi, I found out your secret!"

"No you didn't," Kuroi scoffed. "I told you, dummy." She playfully elbowed Kise who stuck his tongue out. The train pulled up and the two ventured on. They sat near somewhere near the end and Kuroi hummed in thought.

"If your friends say it's okay, then I guess I'll come." She finally gave Kise her answer and the blond's expression brightened. "Only if they _all_ agree." Kuroi added with a nod.

"Don't worry, Yasuhirocchi! It'll be fun, I promise!"

"Hang on, you didn't even ask them to hang out yet, did you?"

"…" Kise gave her a blank stare before whipping out his cell phone. "Not yet! But I will." The tip of his tongue stuck out as he got to work on texting his old teammates. "I swear I'll make them all agree!"

"You mean when you relentlessly beg and whine until you force someone to do something for you?" Kuroi smirked.

Kise, who was too absorbed with compiling his message to send to all the Miracles, nodded exuberantly. "Yup!"

* * *

Once Kise had gotten off at his stop (something about a photo shoot), Kuroi was left alone with her thoughts. She vaguely wondered if it truly was a good idea for her to be around the other Miracles. They were smart, and it seemed very risky.

She watched people come and go from the train before it she finally reached her stop. Kuroi stood and got off the train, leaving the station behind. She sighed for the umpteenth time that evening as she made her way home.

' _From what articles say and what Kise has told me, Akashi seems like he would be the most dangerous to be around. But then again, I don't think he'll manage to get everyone to agree. So I probably shouldn't have anything to worry about!_ ' Kuroi smiled in triumph. Just then, her phone buzzed.

She furrowed her eyebrows and pulled her cell out. She flipped it open and saw she received a text message from Kise. ' _What does that idiot want now? I thought he was busy with his photo shoot._ ' She complained, but opened the message nonetheless.

" _Yasuhirocchi! Good news! Everyone agreed to hang out! I still haven't asked them about you yet, but we're getting there!"_ Kuroi stopped dead in her tracks as she read over the message a second time, her veins filling with ice and her heart pounding against her chest.

' _You've got to be kidding me._ '

* * *

Waaah, I'm super excited for Kuroi to hang out with everyone! It's like a dream come true. *wipes tears away* It's only something that **PumpkinDreamer** and I have talked about a _million times_ in our own little stories!

~WinterAssassin~


End file.
